News

Welcome to Lennard News, your source for commercial real estate news.

• Dundee moves back into Ontario

  Posted December 15, 2009, 5:29pm EST
  Toronto-based Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust, which just over two years ago sold off most of its portfolio in Ontario, appears to be moving back into the province with renewed vigour.

• Toronto Developer Acquires Pontiac Silverdome

  Posted November 25, 2009, 5:26pm EST
  Andreas Apostolopoulos didn't expect to actually win when he mailed in a low-ball bid for an abandoned 88,000-seat stadium in suburban Detroit.

• Investors Dive Back into Commercial Property

  Posted November 18, 2009, 5:26pm EST
  Canada's commercial real estate market is rebounding faster than many in the industry projected just a few months ago.

• Survey Shows Canadian Commercial Real Estate Markets in far Better Shape Than the U.S.

  Posted November 4, 2009, 5:26pm EST
  Today, the Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac) and FPL Advisory Group released the results of their Fourth Quarter 2009 Canadian Real Estate Sentiment Survey.

• Commercial Real Estate Bounces Back

  Posted October 23, 2009, 5:26pm EDT
  While not a full-blown recovery, sector sees encouraging trends 'across the country' in renewed transactions

• Canada's tallest office tower gets a $100-million facelift

  Posted September 30, 2009, 5:21pm EDT
  The Italian white marble that clads Canada’s tallest office tower, First Canadian Place, is coming down next year, all 45,000 slabs of it, the owners announced today. In its place, workers will install 7,800 panels of white glass.

• Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation to open first Murale store in Toronto

  Posted September 1, 2009, 5:21pm EDT
  New beauty destination offers access to global beauty brands and an elevated level of beauty expertise

• Private firm lands Union Station deal

  Posted August 10, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  Toronto City Council has appointed a private company to handle retail leasing at Union Station, one of the final steps before it kicks off a mammoth revitalization of the country's biggest transit hub.

• CBC eyes $125M real estate sell-off

  Posted July 6, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  Now that 250 CBC employees have been laid off and 300 more have agreed to retire early, the public broadcaster is turning its sights on potential real estate sales that could draw in more badly needed cash, company president Hubert Lacroix said today.

• Workplace walls come tumbling down

  Posted July 16, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  When Steve Andrews and about 100 fellow employees of the Town of Markham moved into their cubicles in a newly renovated office last November, he knew they would feel the squeeze on their personal work spaces.

• Toronto Real Estate Board: Over 600,000 Square Feet Leased in May

  Posted June 19, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  TREB Commercial Members reported 644,130 square feet of space leased in May through the TorontoMLS® system, reported Commercial Council Chair Garry Lander. "While still below 2008 levels, this figure represents an improvement over the first four months of the year," said Mr. Lander.

• Canadian Office Space Remains One Of The World's Most Expensive

  Posted June 5, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  A depressed global economy that has seen commercial rents fall dramatically in most major cities has knocked perennial front-runner London out of the top spot among the most expensive places to set up an office.

• McGuinty Government: New Energy Tax

  Posted May 20, 2009, 5:53pm EDT
  The McGuinty government today gave third and final reading to Bill 150, the Green Energy Act, which, when implemented, will impose significant new costs on home sellers in Ontario. The new tax comes in the form of an energy audit fee that must be paid by home sellers prior to a single family home being sold.

• Shops at Don Mills Ontario's first urban village opens its doors

  Posted January 27, 2010, 3:54pm EST
  One of the largest redevelopment projects in Canada combines best-in-class tenants, public spaces and neighbourhood’s rich history

• Lennard Takes Home the Office Deal of the Year REX Award

  Posted February 24, 2010, 4:23pm EST
  When beginning this 3 year project, MyTravel, a billion-plus dollar travel company, was leasing 110,000 sq.ft. across 4 separate offices in various markets across the Greater Toronto Area.

• In a League of their own

  Posted February 24, 2010, 4:22pm EST
  Andrea Kraus was managing a private health club 20 years ago when she had an epiphany. Feeling overworked by the long hours, she decided to quit and go into real estate.

• Bell Canada buys 750 The Source stores

  Posted March 9, 2009, 5:39pm EDT
  Bell Canada has announced it has agreed to buy The Source by Circuit City, instantly giving it 750 stores in busy malls that will sell Bell's telephone, TV and internet services as well as a full range of consumer electronics.

• Canadian property markets cushioned for 2009

  Posted March 9, 2009, 5:39pm EDT
  CIBC real estate analyst Rossa O’Reilly says the latest statistics on commercial real estate prices bode well for Canada. The Canadian Property Investment Index, which tracks a diversified investment portfolio of 2,569 properties in 34 property funds, had a 4.7% total return in 2008. By category, the ICREIM/IPD Index found office properties returned 7.6%, residential 6.4%, industrial 2.3%, retail lost 0.1%, and other segments were off 0.3%.

• Commercial Market Better than in 90's

  Posted February 27, 2009, 5:33pm EST
  The commercial real-estate market is in rougher shape than it was a year ago but this is nothing compared to the early 1990s, according to CB Richard Ellis Ltd.

• The downturn, then and now

  Posted January 23, 2009, 5:33pm EST
  Anyone who remembers the commercial property market in the early 1990s likely does so whispering a fervent prayer that this recession does not come anywhere near the meltdown that struck all forms of real estate then.

• Proposal for prime site spurs controversy

  Posted January 16, 2009, 5:32pm EST
  As Toronto looks at selling some of its real estate portfolio, one of the hottest pieces sits at the heart of the city – Yonge and Eglinton.